Alexander Zverev reached the round of 16 at the ATP lawn tournament in Halle, Westphalia, with a comfortable win against Dominic Thiem.
The Olympic champion prevailed on Tuesday (June 20th, 2023) in his opening match 6: 3, 6: 4 against the Austrian Dominic Thiem. Zverev converted his first match point after 78 minutes in midsummer temperatures in the well-attended OWL Arena.
In the round of 16, the 26-year-old will face Canadian Denis Shapovalov this Wednesday (not before 5.30 p.m.).
The native of Hamburg has been preparing in Halle since the weekend and has already made a good impression against Thiem. Zverev served well, fended off a breakball when the score was 1-1 and then had the game under control. To make it 4:2, he took the service from the Austrian and got the first set after just 31 minutes.
The first victory on grass in two years
In the second round, Zverev eased off a bit, while Thiem, who had inflicted the bitter defeat of the German’s career three years ago in the final of the US Open, improved. But Zverev survived the few critical situations and made the break to 5: 4. Shortly thereafter, the first victory on grass in two years was perfect.
Yannick Hanfmann won against Louis Wessels in the first round.
Hanfmann prevails against Weßels
Yannick Hanfmann was the first German tennis pro to reach the round of 16 in Halle. The 31-year-old from Karlsruhe prevailed in the opening German duel against the strong qualifier and local hero Louis Weßels (Detmold) 6:4, 3:6, 6:3. Hanfmann converted his first match point after 2:03 hours.
In the round of 16, Hanfmann has to deal with the third seeded Russian Andrej Rublew, who defeated Wu Yibing from China 6:4, 6:7 and 6:2. The 24-year-old Weßels, number 347 in the world, had reached the main draw of an ATP tournament for the first time in his native East Westphalia.
Previously, Davis Cup player Daniel Altmaier was unable to compete due to injury. The 24-year-old withdrew shortly before his first-round match against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut because of leg pain.
Altmaier sustained the injury in qualifying against American Chris Eubanks, but had hoped to start in Halle until the very end. The Italian Andrea Vavassori took his place as a so-called lucky loser, but clearly lost to Bautista Agut in two sets 3:6 and 4:6.
